Come and See

Today we begin a 4 week sermon series which will take a closer look into how Jesus made Disciples. Discipleship is not a suggestion but it’s a command from Jesus Christ who died for you and me. It is the Great Commission not the great suggestion.

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20 ESV

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Do you see where it said “If You Want to Go”? Me either, because it says to “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Matthew

I can hear some of you now, but Jeremy I do not know how to make disciples.

Matthew 29:19-20

How do you become a good students? You go to school and study

How do you know how to play games? You play the game

How do you become a good students? You go to school and study

How do you pay the bill? You go to work

How do you learn to read? You start reading

How do you become a parent? You have kids

Come on somebody!!! How do you make disciples? You start making disciples (I can hear you still, but how?)

Come on somebody!!! How do you make disciples?

That’s what we will learn over the next 4 weeks as we seek to make disciples as Jesus made disciples.

Jesus’s discipleship ministry has 4 phases and they each offer an invitation. 1st Phase: “Come and See”

John 1:35–39 ESV

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Come Check it Out

The first phase of Jesus’ discipleship ministry invited people in to His life and allowed them to look around and see how He did things.

In our text we see that John the Baptist declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God. (The promised Messiah)

This caught their attention and they decided to follow Jesus and when Jesus saw them following He said to them, “What are you seeking?” What are you looking for? What do you want?

It takes Faith to follow Jesus and he probably caught the two off guard when He stopped and asked “What they were seeking?” and they fumbling around for an answer, they asked, “Where are you staying?” Jesus’ answer would change their lives. “Come and See”

Jesus did not answer what they was probably thinking, Are you the Messiah? but he invited them to come spend time with him even invited them to come see where He was staying and check him out for themselves.

Jesus did not rush to have them to walk an isle, say a prayer, join the church, etc… but He simply invited them to come and see.

John continues by telling us that these two men where Andrew and Himself. Andrew went and told his brother Peter to come and see Jesus.

The next day Jesus invited Philip to follow him and Philip told Nathanael to come and see Jesus the one Moses and the prophets wrote about.

Jesus knew these guys before He invited them to follow just as He knows all about us. Since Jesus knew these men, this phase of ministry was for them to get to know him. This may seem like a no brainier yet the church tends to over look this simple step.

Bill Hulls states, “We often invite the public to “come and see” our buildings, listen to our singers, hear our preachers, and watch our liturgy. But this experience can be impersonal and more about showmanship than discipleship.”

All of that can be good stuff but we must not loose sight that Christ is what people are seeking. Some people will soak up the show but the rest are looking for something authentic.

Let’s stop watering down the gospel and let people see that we are not just messing around and having a good time.

When we choose to disciple others like Jesus did, we begin by asking people to “come and see” Jesus: learn about His life, His death and His resurrection.

Who He is and What He has done will bring the people in because Jesus Himself is the attraction.

Application:

Inviting people to church on Sunday morning is a great idea but what happens when they come back on Sunday night or Wednesday nights?

How about if you started inviting people into your life Monday -Saturday and worship together on Sunday at church.

Discipleship happens when we invite others in and do life with them over time. This is the way Jesus did ministry.

The Wedding at Cana

Jesus was invited to a wedding and He took his disciples with Him. They got to see how he interacted with others. Weddings in Israel could last for weeks and during this wedding they host ran out of wine and Jesus’ mom asked him to help.

Jesus knew why he had came to Earth and had a plan to fulfill it but it was not at the wedding. Could it be that Jesus taught His disciples then and now the difference between freewheeling and going with the flow vs knowing the plan and being intentional with it.

Mary did not doubt that Jesus could help solve the issue with wine so she told servants to do whatever He told them and so they did as Jesus instructed and more wine was provided and it was good wine.

Can you imagine the impact of this miracle on the disciples?

John 2:11 ESV

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

After wedding the disciples traveled to Capernaum with Jesus, his mother and brothers.

Bill Hull states, “This means the disciples were spending time with Jesus 24/7, watching him interact with family, party guests and strangers. They saw all of this and later said that Jesus was a man who was without sin.”

Cleansing the Temple

We get another look at how Jesus made disciples as he cleaned out the temple. Jesus was who he was everyday of the week. When He invited His disciples to “Come and See” He was not doing to put on a act for them.

Jesus got angry with the sellers in the temple because they were taking advantage of their positions and over charging people for animals which would be used for sacrifice.

Jesus got mad but did not loose control. (I am still working on this one with the Lord’s help) He was calm enough to make a whip and remember Jesus never sinned so this was not some rage full event but rather Jesus was justified as see spoke out.

This probably was the first time His disciples saw Him speak out like this using authority. He was teaching His disciples how to handle tough situations and even how to address those who would question His authority.

I love how Jesus answered the Jews,

John 2:19–20 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

John 2:19-20

Now we know, He was speaking of His body at the resurrection but can you imagine what His disciples where thinking at this time.

But this was the way Jesus did discipleship and He continues it today. We do not always understand why He does things the way He chooses but not fully understanding does not mean we are not learning!

His disciples learned more about Jesus as they spent more time with Him. Now they knew what made Him angry and who His enemies where. Stressful situations leave there mark in your memory and I bet the disciples remembered this day.

The Samaritan Woman

Jesus was becoming well known in the region but He was not well liked by the Pharisees () but this did not stop Jesus from following the plan.

He could have stayed and fueled the fire with the Pharisees but He still needed time to train His disciples so he left Judea and went to Galilee.

We can learn a lot from Jesus right here. You do not have to fight or finish every battle today. Walk away and spend time with God and the ones He gave you to love.

He had to go through Samaria to get to Galilee or He could have taken a longer route but Jesus wanted to teach a valuable lesson to His disciples.

Samaritan’s were a mixture of Jews and Gentile as result of the Jews intermarrying with people brought in to Israel by the Assyrians and they worshiped other gods as well.

Jesus sent the disciples into town to get food but He stay behind at Sychar which was near the well that Jacob dug and he went there to get a drink.

A Samaritan woman comes to the well as Jesus is there and Jesus ask her for a drink which opens up the door for a conversation. Jesus told her about the living water which only He could provide.

The disciples returned to find Jesus talking with this Samaritan woman and they could not muster up the nerve to ask Him why He was talking to her.

Meanwhile, the woman leaves and go to town and tells the people to “come and see” a man who told me all that I ever did. You see Jesus draws people to Himself.

The disciples tried to get Jesus to eat being they just came back from town with food. However, Jesus said I have food to eat you know nothing about and the disciples questioned each other as to who gave Him some food.

But Jesus told them that His food was to do the will of the one who sent Him and to accomplish His work.

See More Clearly

Over the past few weeks the disciples have spent time with Jesus and come to see Him more clearly. They have seen him with family, friends, social events, traveled with him, saw him angry and excited, heard him say confusing things but they were learning that his words and actions have meaning and purpose.

They have a better understanding what it will be like if they choose to continue to follow Jesus.

“Jesus demonstrated that his was an urgent work, but not one burdened by hurry and worry.” Bill Hull

Jesus

Jesus challenged his disciples to enter into his work and ministry but he wanted them to take time and think about what they had seen in the time they had spent with him.

He encourages a time of reflection. Jesus wants a solid decision based on knowledge not off a spiritual high that will fade away in time.

The first phase “Come and See” has ended and Jesus will invite the disciples next to “Come and Follow Me”.